Sorry for the long story here.
Where I work, we sell propane. Therefore we end up with a lot of old propane tanks which I have always added to my scrap metal loads. I came up with a system to remove the valves and break the tank down into 3 components for scrap. The steel tank, the brass valve and the aluminum handle. When set up for a batch it takes me an average of 3 minutes to break a tank down. The valve has always been the most valuable part and is currently over twice as valuable as the tank itself. This has worked well for years.
Monday I took in a load of scrap and had about 35-40 tanks thrown in it. The man at the scale comes out and informs me that they can no longer accept propane tanks unless they are physically cut in half. We discussed this at length but he said that the word came down from headquarters that because they had 8 different explosions due to propane tanks at there shredder plant that they cant accept tanks unless cut in half even if the valves are removed. I was told I could dump my load but would have to sort out all the tanks and take them back with me. So that s what I reluctantly started to do. While sorting out the tanks the loader driver at the scrap pile stopped and got out of his cab and asked me what I was doing. I told him and he said that was crazy and they were fine as long as the valves were removed. He said to leave them and he would shove them into the pile and it was then out of my hands as I wouldn t be allowed to touch them. This suited me so its what I did.
Upon returning to the scale, the attendant was upset that I didn t retrieve the tanks so I told him the whole story and that they would have to work it out among themselves as I was out of picture at this point . He agreed .
So I made out fine this time but my concern is with the next load of tanks. Im trying to think if there is a way to easily, safely and quickly cut a tank in two to satisfy them. I mean I have cut tanks up in the past for various uses but always spent a lot of time purging the tank first using various means. None of those means would be practical just doing it for scrap.
Looking for some innovative way to do this that would be practical. I have lots of tools at my disposal. Any suggestions?
Where I work, we sell propane. Therefore we end up with a lot of old propane tanks which I have always added to my scrap metal loads. I came up with a system to remove the valves and break the tank down into 3 components for scrap. The steel tank, the brass valve and the aluminum handle. When set up for a batch it takes me an average of 3 minutes to break a tank down. The valve has always been the most valuable part and is currently over twice as valuable as the tank itself. This has worked well for years.
Monday I took in a load of scrap and had about 35-40 tanks thrown in it. The man at the scale comes out and informs me that they can no longer accept propane tanks unless they are physically cut in half. We discussed this at length but he said that the word came down from headquarters that because they had 8 different explosions due to propane tanks at there shredder plant that they cant accept tanks unless cut in half even if the valves are removed. I was told I could dump my load but would have to sort out all the tanks and take them back with me. So that s what I reluctantly started to do. While sorting out the tanks the loader driver at the scrap pile stopped and got out of his cab and asked me what I was doing. I told him and he said that was crazy and they were fine as long as the valves were removed. He said to leave them and he would shove them into the pile and it was then out of my hands as I wouldn t be allowed to touch them. This suited me so its what I did.
Upon returning to the scale, the attendant was upset that I didn t retrieve the tanks so I told him the whole story and that they would have to work it out among themselves as I was out of picture at this point . He agreed .
So I made out fine this time but my concern is with the next load of tanks. Im trying to think if there is a way to easily, safely and quickly cut a tank in two to satisfy them. I mean I have cut tanks up in the past for various uses but always spent a lot of time purging the tank first using various means. None of those means would be practical just doing it for scrap.
Looking for some innovative way to do this that would be practical. I have lots of tools at my disposal. Any suggestions?
